


birthday invitation

by vaahtokarkki



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Birthday Fluff, M/M, in the 2nd chapter things get gay, izumi is there for like two seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-11 00:01:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16464842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vaahtokarkki/pseuds/vaahtokarkki
Summary: Someone Shu was dearly hoping to be at his birthday party, doesn't show up after all.





	1. Chapter 1

Among the tiring celebrations, Shu barely has the time to notice that someone never showed up. He slips away from the other eccentrics – wonderful, and cherished, but tiring in large doses – and walks up to Izumi, as casually as possible while he’s clad in his Valkyrie outfit and a flashy birthday sash.

”Sena”, he greets, and Izumi nods back, looking vaguely interested. ”Were you the only one from our class here?”

”Everyone is busy preparing for Halloween, so we decided on only me coming. Ah…” Izumi digs around in his bag, and pulls out an envelope. ”I left your gift over there, but I was asked to deliver this to you in person.”

”Hmm. Thank you”, Shu takes the envelope. His name is written on top, but he doesn’t recognise the handwriting.

They part, and Shu glances around. It won’t take long until someone will spot he’s alone.

A representative, huh? To be fair, he doesn’t exactly like most of his classmates, but still, he was hoping…

”For what?” he asks himself, mutters the words so quietly no one else can hear them. If he thought Hakaze might come over, he’s a fool, truly – after all, Mademoiselle is the reason he even talks to Shu, isn’t she?

Shu takes a glance at where he left her, on the gift table, surrounded by bright wrapping paper and colourful bows.

Well, whatever romantic fancy took him over, made him hope for Hakaze’s presence with a fluttering heart – he’ll just abandon it. He shouldn’t get distracted so close to Halloween, anyway.

Whatever is in the envelope? Perhaps words of greeting from the whole class? Shu isn’t all that interested, but he supposes he might as well open it and see.

He eyes the letter over quickly. It seems to be from the class, like he suspected. Standard congratulations, wishing him well for the next year and the years to come, a poorly drawn chibi fox saying _happy birthday,_ the wish that he could come to their birthday party even though they couldn’t come to his –

What?

Shu reads it over again, frowning. The fox and all the words stay the same.

What…

Shu’s eyes jump to the end of the letter. There, the signature, it’s –

”Oh.”

It’s signed simply, _Hakaze,_ and suddenly, the contents of the letter make a whole lot more sense. Shu quickly scans the room to see if anyone is looking at him. No one is, and he slips to hide behind the table with the cake on it, to read the letter just one more time.

The facts are, this is definitely Hakaze’s name at the bottom of the letter. It’s definitely Shu’s name on top of the envelope. And it’s _definitely_ a request for Shu to attend Kaoru’s own party, just a few days after Halloween.

It isn’t as if Shu hadn’t already considered it, but being _invited…_

Suddenly, Shu’s own birthday party feels a whole lot less suffocating.


	2. Chapter 2

Dusk settles over the school, and Shu never comes to Kaoru’s birthday party.

He shouldn’t be disappointed, right? He didn’t make it on Shu’s birthday, and his invitation to Shu was kind of embarrassing…

Ahh, so that’s just how it is. Kaoru tells the others he’ll join them later for more celebrations, that he just wants to catch his breath for a while. So they let him be alone in the party room for a while.

Half the lights are already shut off, and Kaoru idly stares at the eaten cake as he takes off his birthday sash. It was a good party, huh? Yet he can’t help wondering about Shu. He asked Izumi as subtly as possible, and Shu hadn’t said anything upon receiving the invitation. Not about coming, not about not coming.

Kaoru traces a small gift box with his fingers. He’d even take a simple _happy birthday_ – hell, he’d even have accepted nothing more than a reply to his letter. He wanted to give Shu his present, but now he doesn’t know if he dares, when Shu hasn’t contacted him at all.

Consumed by melancholy, the door slamming open startles Kaoru so bad he drops the sash.

”Wh –” he starts, whipping around, but the sight stops him in his tracks.

Shu is breathing heavily, hunched against the doorframe, one hand sticking against it for support and the other holding Mademoiselle. When he lifts his eyes, they’re burning, and Kaoru’s breath gets caught in his throat.

”Am I… am I late…?” Shu’s says with great difficulty. ”To your party…?”

”Itsuki-kun?” Kaoru immediately strides closer, and Shu attempts to straighten his back. ”The others left, but… what happened to you?”

”I ran”, Shu says, like it was the simplest thing in the world. ”To get here.”

”You _ran?_ But what _happened?”_

”A family member in the hospital. Nothing serious.”

” _What?”_ Kaoru exclaims, drawing in air in a hiss. ”Then why are you here?”

”You sent me an invitation, Hakaze”, now Shu does stand up straight, eyes piercing in their sincerity. ”So I came to celebrate your birthday.”

Kaoru swallows, suddenly uncertain how to respond. From all the things he could have expected to happen on his birthday, _this_ never occurred to him. That Shu would place this much value on him.

”Well, uh…” Kaoru glances around in the dim-lit room. ”There’s no cake, or other guests, but…”

”I can see that”, Shu sighs. ”I must apologise, I –”

”No, that’s okay”, Kaoru shakes his head, and on impulse, he takes Shu by the hand. ”Come here, I’ll show you why I invited you.”

Shu goes incredibly quiet, and Kaoru leads him through the room to the table with the cake and the gifts. There, he picks up the small box – blue, decorated with a golden bow – and gives it to Shu with shaking hands.

”What…?” Shu asks softly, staring at the box.

”Since I, uh, couldn’t give it to you on _your_ birthday. And Halloween didn’t seem like the most opportune time, either.”

”I don’t have anything for you?” Shu’s eyes are wide, alarmed, as he clutches the box in his hand. ”If I had known, I would have…”

”No, no, look, it’s really okay”, Kaoru laughs, rubbing a hand at the back of his head. ”I just… wanted you to have this.”

Shu carefully places Mademoiselle on the table to open the box. Deft fingers undo the bow in a moment, and when he pulls out a small, pink ribbon, his eyes widen in shock.

”Is this for…?”

”For Mademoiselle-chan”, Kaoru confirms. ”I thought it would be nice if she had a ribbon that, um…” There’s no better way to say this, so Kaoru simply blurts it out. ”That matched your hair.”

”It’s beautiful”, Shu turns it in his hand. ”And…”

The cheap gemstones glitter against the ribbon, and Kaoru sighs.

”Well, you know… violet… for your eyes…”

”But where did you _find_ this?”

Shu is asking all the wrong (right?) questions, and Kaoru has to look away for the last answer.

”I didn’t… find it.”

”Then how…” Shu frowns, looks up at Kaoru, and his eyes lght up in realisation. ”You _made_ it?”

”You – she – deserves the best”, Kaoru mutters. ”Ah, I’m sorry… it was your birthday gift, but it’s for her and not for you…”

”No, I _adore_ it. It’s… very thoughtful.”

Shu takes a step closer, suddenly very interested in _Kaoru’s_ eyes.

”Wh… what is it…?”

”Hm. I may have a gift for you after all. But you need to close your eyes.”

”What…?” Kaoru blinks. Shu tilts his head, and Kaoru obeys, shutting his eyes tight. Something touches his cheek, and he jolts.

”Just relax”, Shu’s voice comes closer than before, and Kaoru nods. Relaxing is an issue, though, when he recognises that something touching him to be _fingers_ , delicately tracing his cheek. One catches at his bottom lip, as if to ask, _is this okay_ , and Kaoru nods again, to reply, _yes_.

The finger is replaced by something warmer touching his lips, and Kaoru leans in without delay, his own movements soft.

Kaoru doesn’t open his eyes until Shu pulls away. He feels lightheaded, almost dizzy, and when his sight focuses, he notes Shu’s expression is similar to what his own must be right now.

”Happy birthday”, Shu whispers, ”though I think your gift was sweeter.”

”Then kiss me again?” Kaoru asks, dazed, taking a step closer.

Shu laughs before leaning back in, and the sound is the sweetest gift Kaoru has got all day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> annnnd here was the second chapter, in time for kaoru's birthday! thank you for reading!!
> 
> (after the ending imagine the others bursting into the room to see what took kaoru so long)

**Author's Note:**

> this was a bit of a hurried work, but I saw the translations for shu's birthday and that izumi was there in behalf of the whole 3A, and, well... this happened! I'm gonna post a second chapter to this on kaoru's birthday, so look forward to that <3


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